All the ‘Game of Thrones’ Easter Eggs and References in ‘Beyond the Wall’

In “Beyond the Wall,” Game of Thrones split most of its time between two locations as the episode led up to a climatic icy battle. But did you catch all of the Easter eggs buried within it?

In the seventh season’s penultimate episode – SPOILER alert – Jon and Co. battled an army of wights before Daenerys swooped in to rescue her new beloved with her dragon babies. But things didn’t end well when the Night King decided to show off his javelin skills and kill Viserion, and then convert the magical reptile into a blue-eyed dragon. There were Easter eggs hidden in Jon’s sword, a potential clue about dragonfire, and the reason Daenerys believes she can’t have babies. We’ve rounded up the references and callbacks in “Beyond the Wall” in case you missed them. And for more, check out all the Easter eggs from “Dragonstone,” “Stormborn,” “The Queen’s Justice,” “The Spoils of War,” and “Eastwatch.”

1. Longclaw’s connection to Jon

On their way to capture a wight, Jon and Jorah have a little catch-up chat about their shared history with Jorah’s father, Jeor Mormont, who gave Jon his sword back in Season 1’s “Baelor.” When Jon tries to give Longclaw to Jorah, he refuses and insists the sword belongs to Jon. By the end of the episode a little visual clue reveals just how much Longclaw connected to its owner. Fans spotted that as the camera changes focus, the eye of the direwolf pommel “opens” as Jon miraculously climbs out of the hole in the ice, seemingly coming back to life as its owner re-emerges. Some speculated it could just be a drop of water on the pommel, but in slow-mo it certainly looks like some sort of eyeball is appearing.

Kim Renfro of Insider asked “Beyond the Wall” director Alan Taylor about the moment, but he had no idea about it, either dodging the questions exceptionally well, or suggesting it could have been added in post. Either way, it’s a fun little Easter egg about Jon’s connection with his sword.

2. Beric comments on Jon’s parentage

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“You don’t look much like him. Your father.” Wait, did someone on Game of Thrones just randomly bring up Jon’s likeness (or lack thereof) to his parents? Did someone say Jon doesn’t look like Ned Stark? Hold on, I think I’ve got a fan theory, but it’s a wild one and you’ve probably never heard it before – what if Jon Snow isn’t Ned Stark’s son? *GASP*

3. Jon still has some Night’s Watch in him

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While talking with Beric about their purpose, the one-eyed resurrected man tells Jon that he believes the Lord of Light brought them both back to be soldiers; saved from death to fight death. In response Jon quotes a line from the Night’s Watch oath he swore years ago: “The shield that guards the realms of men.” For the past several seasons, Jon’s known nothing (heh) but serving and protecting. It’s what he’s done and continues to do as he fights the White Walkers to protect the North and the rest of the Realm. The inclusion of this line likely means nothing, but is a nice little reminder that Jon’s one of the most devoted warriors of this series.

4. Dragonfire and White Walkers

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There are only two known ways to kill White Walkers so far: Valyrian steel and dragonglass. For a while fans have believed dragonfire may also be a potential White Walker kryptonite, which makes sense as it’s what’s used to forge those weapons. But “Beyond the Wall” may have disproven that.

Just before Olympic gold medalist the Night King throws his javelin at Viserion, he’s seen walking straight through fire, noticeably untouched. Even weirder, the fire seems to part for him and dissipate as he passes. This could just be an oversight by the writers, but that’s hard to believe in a show so fixated on details. There is also the possibility that dragonfire only maintains its ice zombie killing effects when it’s literally leaving a dragon’s mouth – when it hits the ground, is it no longer “dragon” fire? Honestly, who knows! It wouldn’t be the only crucial White Walker detail from “Beyond the Wall” that Dan Weiss and David Benioff failed to address.

5. Was the Night King prepared?

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Speaking of the Night King, an earlier shot of the White Walkers suggests the ice king may have known three dragons would make an appearance. In the above shot the Night King stands with four Walkers, but two of those Walkers have giant ice javelins like his own weapon while the other two have smaller ice swords. Thrones is a show dedicated to tiny details and it certainly doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the Walkers came carrying three spears. We know the Night King can see Bran during the Stark/Three-Eyed Raven’s visions, so perhaps the King has the ability to experience prophetic visions as well and knew Daenerys and her dragons were coming. There’s also a fan theory making the rounds this week that Bran might actually be the Night King, so do what you will with that.

6. HBO tricked us

Remember the days of pouring over every Game of Thrones Season 7 trailer frame by frame? Ah, it feels like ages ago. The second trailer gave us a little tease of the battle in “Beyond the Wall,” only thing is, HBO totally tricked us by photoshopping a pivotal character out of a few frames (which they previously did in a Season 5 trailer with Tyrion). In the above image, the photo on top is from the trailer, and the one below is from last Sunday’s episode. Sneaky, HBO.

7. What’s the deal with Daenerys infertility?

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Daenerys’ supposed infertility was mentioned twice in “Beyond the Wall,” and likely not without reason. Tyrion, worried about Daenerys’ lineage, urges her to name a successor, then at the end of the episode she tells Jon the only children she’ll ever have are her dragons. This latter conversation points back to the Season 1 when Khal Drogo is injured and Daenerys asks Mirri Maz Duur, a blood witch, to do whatever she can to save his life. During the ceremony Daenerys gives birth to her stillborn son and the Lhazareen wife tells her a prophecy that Khal Drogo will never return. In the books, that prophecy includes a mention of Daenerys’ infertility – “When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child, then he will return, and not before.” – but that line was omitted from the show’s version.

However, since that incident it seems like Daenerys has long believed she can’t give birth. In Season 2 Episode 8 she brings it up again to Jorah, telling him that her dragons are “the only children I will ever have.” But without any definitive evidence of her infertility, and the fact that Duur’s reference to Dany’s womb was omitted, perhaps that’s not true. After all, Jorah did mention Jon’s future babies to him earlier in the episode, so there’s some clear foreshadowing that Jon and Daenerys kids are a possibility. Bring on the incest babies!